Brassiere



L. H. HOPPER Feb. 19, 1963 BRASSIERE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1960 INVENTOR.

L. H. HOPPER Feb. 19, 1963 BRASSIERE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 1, 1960 INVENTOR. 50/5 E Afoppae tzfvmaml /m/ Feb. 19, 1963 H. HOPPER 3,

BRASSIERE Filed July 1, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

la/fy AC HOPPER United States 3,fi77,885 Patented Feb. 19, 1963 3,077,885 BRASSIERE Lois H. Hopper, North Hollywood, Calif., assignor to Munsiugwear, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of Delaware Fiied July 1, 1960, Ser. No. 40,478 8 Claims. (Cl. 128-510) This invention relates to brassieres.

This application is a continuation-in-part of an application filed on March 8, 1960, under Serial No. 13,651, and now abandoned, and entitled Brassiere.

Substantially all of the brassieres in common use today include a body-encircling structure which serves as a support for the breast cups. The structure includes detachable fas-tening means, such as hooks and eyes, for holding the structure tightly around the body below the breasts.

It is common to provide different sizes of the bodyencircling structure to correspond to the chest measurement of the wearer. The structure must be tight enough to hold the cups in proper breast-supporting position, thus providing a restraint that is continually felt by the wearer. Furthermore, when the wearer dons a garment cut low at the back, special provisions must be taken to conceal the back reach of the band.

It is one of the objects of this invention to obviate thesemay be detachably connected to the top edge of the girdle to provide a pull on the cups adequate to keep them in proper supporting position. By appropriate adjustment of the length of the straps and of the places of attachment to the girdle, the brassiere may be readily accommodated to a wide range of body measurements. There being no rearportion of the body-encircling band, backless garments may be used without any attendant problem of concealing the brassiere; consequently, the back may be cut so low as to approach the top edge of the girdle. The pull on the straps is in such direction as to maintain the shoulder straps in proper position on the wearer.

The provision of these straps for attaching the garment to the top edge of the girdle is not limited to a backless brassiere. Such a structure is well adapted to provide against upward creep of the brassiere as well as to provide downwardly directed forces for holding the cups in close fitting relation to the body.

This invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of several embodiments of the invention. For this purpose, there are shown a few forms in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. These forms will now be described in detail, illustrating the general principles of the invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front pictorial view of a brassiere incorporating the invention, shown in place on a wearer;

FIG. 2 is a rear pictorial view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a front View of the brassiere shown with the sides extended;

FIG. 4 is a view, similar to FIG. 1, of a modified form of the invention;

, FIG. 5 is a view, similar to FIG. 3, of the modified form shown in FIG. 4; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views, similar to FIG. 5, of further modifications of the invention.

Referring first to the form illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 inclusive, the brassiere includes a pair of conventional breast cups 1 and 2 made of any appropriate fabric, such as lace, silk, broadcloth, etc. Attached to and supporting these cups is a pliant structure, such as of fabric usually adapted for brassiere body-encircling members. This structure has concave upper portions joined to the lower edges of cups 1 and 2. It also includes the sides 3 and 4 having upper edges forming a continuation of the upper edges of the cups 1 and 2. The upper and lower edges 19 and 1% converge to form the ends 5 and 6. These ends 5 and 6 extend only to a position-near the sides of the wearer, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 2.

Appropriate adjustable shoulder straps 7 and 8 of conventional form are fastened to the tops of the cups 1 and 2, and are also attached to top edges 19 adjacent the ends 5 and 6 to form loops.

In order to hold the supporting structure for the cups, as well as the cups 1 and 2, firmly in place on the wearer, as indicated in FIGS. 1, the ends of the sides 3 and 4 are anchored to the top edge 9 of the girdle It) worn by the user. For this purpose, use is made of longitudinally adjustable elastic straps 11. and 12 extending downwardly and rearwardly of the brassiere and attached at their upper ends to loops 17 and 18 sewn to the lower-edge 19a of the members 3 and 4. These straps are provided at their lower end with detachable jaw clasps 13 and 14 that are intended, as shown most clearly in FIG. 2, to-engage.

the edge 9 of the girdle 10.

The detachable jaws forming the clasps 13 and 1,4.may be of any conventional form that may be easily engaged and disengaged with respect to the girdle edge 9. The clasps are mounted on the ends of the elastic straps 11 so that they may exert a force on the brassiere, tendbrassiere.

- The clasps 13 and 14 may be spaced either closer or farther apart along the back of the user, whereby an adjustment may be made to fit the particular body dimen sions of the wearer at the chest region.

In the form shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the straps 11 and 12 are shown as detachable, as by the aid of the S-hooks 15 and 15 which are engaged detachably in loops 17 and 1S firmly attached to the lower edge 1% of the brassiere structure. Other forms of attachment can obviously be used.

By the aid of this construction, substantially the entire back of the wearer above the waist, as shown in FIG. 2, is free of any visible parts of the brassiere or its fastening means.

The brassiere structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 may be incorporated in a halter-type brassiere. Such a form is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In this instance, the body member 20 supporting the cups 21 and 22 is provided with relatively short side extensions 23 and 24. A halter 25, adapted to extend around the back of the neck of the wearer, may be permanently attached at its ends to the upper edges of the cups 21 and 22.

The elastic adjustable straps 26 and 27 are supported at the lower corners of the sides 23 and 24. Metal jaw clasps 23 and 29, generally of the same structure as illustrated in FIG. 3, may be utilized, as well as any other desired form of clasp.

In this form of the invention, the halter 25 may be hidden in any well-known manner, as, for example, by a yoke or halter provided on the outer garment of the wearer.

In the forms shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, body-encircling members 3 and 4 are similar to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. However, an elastic strap 30 to complete the encirclement of the body is shown attached in a conventional manner to the right-hand edge of member 4. This strap provides eyes 31 for engagement by hooks 32 carried by the left-hand edge of member 3. Dependent adjustable elastic straps 33, 34 support clasps 35,'36 adapted to engage the top edge of a girdle.

By this means, the lower edge of the brassiere is an chored yieldingly to the top edge of the girdle; the downwardly directed forces hold the cups 1 and 2 in proper supporting position.

In FIG. 7, a single adjustable strap 37 is attached centrally of member 30 so as to draw the back of the garment downwardly toward the top of the girdle. This resilient force is applied substantially at the center of the back of the wearer.

The inventor claims:

1. In a brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliant fabric body engaging support for the cups, said support having sections adapted to extend only part way around the body and terminating adjacent the lines of the armpits when in position on the body of the wearer; each of said sections thus having a free end, the end having a bottom corner; longitudinally stretchable adjustable straps extending downwardly and rearwardly from the bottom corners of said sections; and detachable clasps carried by the ends of said straps, said clasps having gripping means.

2. In a brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliant fabric body engaging supportforthe cups, said support havingsections adapted to extend only part way around the body and terminating adjacent the lines of the armpits when in position on the body of the wearer; each of said sections thus having a free end, the end-havinga bottom corner; longitudinally stretchable adjustable straps extending downwardly and rearwardly from the bottom corners of said section; detachable clasps carried by the ends of said straps attached to the cups, said clasps having gripping means independently capable of attachment to an edge.

3. In a brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliantfabric body engaging support for the cups, said support having sections adapted to extend only part way around the body and terminating adjacent the lines of the armpits when in position on the body of the wearer; each of said sections thus having a free end, the endhaving a bottom corner; longitudinally stretchable adjustable straps extending downwardly and rearwardly from the bottom corners of said sections; detachable clasps carried by the ends of said straps attached to the cups, said clasps having gripping means independently capable of attachment to an edge.

4. In a brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliant support for the cups and adapted to extend around the body of a wearer; and one or more straps having detachable clasps extending downwardly from the brassiere and located away from the front of the garment, said clasps being independently capable of attachment to an edge.

5. In a brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliant support for the cups and adapted to extend around the body of a wearer; and a pair of straps having detachable clasps, extending downwardly respectively from the side regions of the brassiere.

6. In a brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliant support for the cups and adapted to extend around the body of a wearer; and a strap having a detachable clasp, extending downwardly from the center of the rear portion of the brassiere.

7. In a brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliant fabric :body engaging support for the cups and adapted only partly to extend around the body of a wearer; said support having sections extending only part way around the body and terminating adjacent the lines of the armpits when in position on the body of the wearer; each of said sections thus having a free end, the .end having a bottom corner; and a pair of straps extending downwardly from the bottom corners of said sections on opposite sides of the garment, each strap havinga detachable clasp at its end to attach the straps to the top edge. of a nether garment, each of said clasps having gripping means capable of adjustment along said edge.

8. In a. brassiere: a pair of breast cups; a pliant fabric body engaging support for thecups, said, support having sections adapted to extend only part way aroundv the body and terminating adjacentthe lines of the armpits. when in position on the body of the wearer; each of said sections thus having a free end, the end having a bottom corner; straps extending downwardly and rearwardly from the bottom corners of said sections; a pair of shoulder straps respectively attached to the top-of the cups and to the adjacent section for engaging the shoulders of the wearer; and detachable clasps having gripping means, and carried by the ends of said downwardly extending straps for adjustable engagement with the upper edge of a nether garment.

References Cited in, the file. of this patent UNITED, STATES PATENTS 

1. IN A BRASSIERE: A PAIR OF BREAST CUPS; A PLIANT FABRIC BODY ENGAGING SUPPORT FOR THE CUPS, SAID SUPPORT HAVING SECTIONS ADAPTED TO EXTEND ONLY PART WAY AROUND THE BODY AND TERMINATING ADJACENT THE LINES OF THE ARMPITS WHEN IN POSITION ON THE BODY OF THE WEARER; EACH OF SAID SECTIONS THUS HAVING A FREE END, THE END HAVING A BOTTOM CORNER; LONGITUDINALLY STRETCHABLE ADJUSTABLE STRAPS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND REARWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM CORNERS OF SAID SECTIONS; AND DETACHABLE CLASPS CARRIED BY THE ENDS OF SAID STRAPS, SAID CLASPS HAVING GRIPPING MEANS. 